Diseases such as epilepsy pose a significant risk to people’s well-being not only because of their symptoms but also because of the stigma surrounding the condition. According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2019), around three-fourths of people with epilepsy living in low-income countries do not get treatment. This high number suggests that research surrounding this topic is lacking. Collaboration between countries is necessary to improve epilepsy treatment and prevention worldwide. People can live with epilepsy and not have seizures if the condition is appropriately controlled.
Epilepsy is not a transmittable disease, but its sources are not fully understood. Some risk factors include head injury, brain malformations (prenatal and perinatal), stroke, brain infections, and brain tumors (WHO, 2019). People can develop epilepsy at any age since physical injury or lifestyle may affect the condition. The signs of epilepsy are individual, as they depend on the type of brain injury. However, reoccurring seizures are the most widespread symptom – they are defined by a loss of consciousness, movement, and cognitive function disturbances, and changes in sensations and mood (WHO, 2019). Moreover, seizures can cause people to injure themselves by falling or hitting themselves during an episode.
The prevention ways cover all known risk factors for epilepsy. By preventing head injuries, people lower the risk of post-traumatic epilepsy. Proper perinatal care reduces the chances of birth injury, thus lowering epilepsy risks. The prevention of other conditions such as stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and substance abuse contributes to decreasing epilepsy rates. Finally, as epilepsy can be caused by brain infections, eliminating bacteria and parasites responsible for these diseases and educating the population also help prevent epilepsy (WHO, 2019). Thus, health providers need to consider primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention (Braun & Anderson, 2017). The elimination of causes of epilepsy can lower the rates of the disease.
References
Braun, C & Anderson, C. (2017). Applied pathophysiology: A conceptual approach to the mechanisms of disease (3rd ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
World Health Organization. (2019). Epilepsy. Web.